Next week Ingraham High School Students will announce the “$248 Contest” among local high school students to design a billboard or create a video demonstrating the dangers of texting while walking or driving.

Date: Monday, January 31

Time: 12:10 p.m.

Location: Ingraham High School lunchroom, 1819 North 135th Street
(Parking is available in the lot just south of the intersection of North 135th Street and Meridian Avenue North.)

Washington State Troopers and Seattle Police Officers will join the students to launch the contest with an “arresting experience” (a brief skit) and to discuss the consequences of texting while walking or driving. The car driven by Heather Lerch, a nineteen-year-old Thurston County resident who was killed in a texting-while-driving crash last year, will be featured at the event.

State Farm Insurance has donated three prizes of $248 each (twice the amount of the fine for texting) for the contest winners.

The “$248 Challenge” is part of the Aurora Traffic Safety Project, a partnership between city and state agencies.

For more information: Marybeth Turner, (206) 684-8548 or Jim Curtin, (206) 684-8874